For Reasons Unknown
by mandaish
Summary: "Maybe you need him as much as he needs you." It's said so simply, yet packs a heavy, gut wrenching punch. {The story of Sam & Emily and the bumps along the way to finding happiness.}


**Disclaimer: You know the drill! I don't own Twilight. Any character you recognize belongs solely to the Twilight Universe. Any character you don't recognize was given life to give the characters some dimension. **

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"I wish I knew what to tell you, Leah," I whispered into the receiver. I glanced over my shoulder, half expecting Megan to be standing there glaring at me. There was no telling how long it would take before someone noticed my absence. It was family night at the Young's and we were all supposed to be outside playing round four of Hide and Seek. That of course meant one thing; the house was off limits. Which meant I was breaking cardinal rule number one of Young-Fun Family Game Night;_ Don't Break Mom's Rules_. In my defense, from my hiding spot I had heard the phone go off for at least five minutes, which meant someone was in obvious need of something.

That someone happened to be my very best friend and (second) cousin. For the last ten minutes, Leah had been crying in my ear, though if you asked me what was wrong, I wouldn't have been able to tell you. The only thing I knew for sure was that it had involved a fight with Sam. I'd never heard her this worked up over anything, so admittedly, I was concerned. "Do you want me to come down?" I asked, glancing at the clock. I wasn't sure how I'd talk my mom into letting me go. It was getting pretty late, and as Neah Bay was a little over an hour and a half from La Push, it'd take a lot of groveling to get her to agree. On top of that, _Boy_ _Problems_ did not constitute as _Major Emergency_ which, according to mom, a _Major_ _Emergency_ was needed to get out of family night. Maria Young was pretty crazy like that.

"N-no, no. Is it okay if I come to you? I just…I just need to g-get away." Leah asked, sniffling.

"Of course, Leah, you know you're always welcome here. Are you okay to drive?" I asked, worried that she was too upset to get on the road. I glanced out the window over the sink, and I saw that almost everyone had been found. I didn't want to rush Leah, but my time was ticking like a time bomb waiting to explode. Thankfully, Leah had inadvertently helped me avoid confrontation with my mom by wanting to come here.

"I'll be fine. I'll be there in an hour," Leah assured, and I could almost see the small, albeit watery, smile creeping on her face. Leah managed to turn the hour and a half trip into an hour with her crazy driving. We said quick goodbyes, before I placed the cordless phone on the counter. I chewed on my bottom lip, contemplating my next move. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on with Sam. He was usually so easy going with everything, so what could they possibly fight about that could get Leah so worked up? This was unfamiliar territory and I didn't like it one bit.

I had been so lost in my thoughts, that I didn't notice a small hand tugging at my pants. I looked down into the big brown eyes of my 10 month old niece. A smile crept over my face as I bent forward to lift Claire up. "Well, hi there Bug," I said, kissing her on the top of her head. A sweet giggle was my response. She had just started walking the week before, and was already waddling around like a pro. It still meant that my sister wasn't far behind, and when I walked toward the front door, sure enough Megan was coming out of the living room with a scowl on her face.

"Where have you been? You know how Eric gets about these things. He's searching high and low for you, and is getting more and more annoyed each minute he can't find you. It's unbearable," Megan complained as she pulled Claire from my arms. "It'd be in your best interest to go hide, and quick. He's checked the front yard, so I would advise going toward the back."

I sighed and glanced out the window. I could see my younger brother, Eric searching around the front of the house like crazy. He was the biggest reason mom insisted on doing family game nights all the time. He was younger than myself by 11 years, and always complained that he felt like an only child as Megan and myself had done most of our growing up before he was born. Mom insisted that each week, we donate an hour of our time to him. Of course, we also had Young-Fun Family Game Night, which took place at the very least, twice a month. Nine times out of ten, Eric got to pick the game, hence the very mature game of Hide and Seek.

"I spoke with Leah, she's coming over. No hiding the fact that I've broken a rule," I rolled my eyes, and Megan gave me a small smile. Seeing as it was time to face the music, I made my way out the front door, earning a small gasp from my brother. "_Emily_," he exclaimed, his tone incredulous. I had to fight off a smile, before schooling my features into a forlorn look as I made my way toward my father's mini me. We were both all for rules, so he would undoubtedly be disappointed in me.

"Sorry, Eric. I had been hiding, but from my spot I could hear the phone going off the hook, so I thought I needed to investigate," I explained. He looked as though he was going to question but it was then that my mother came around the house, mumbling something about how she wasn't sure where I'd gotten off to. When she saw me, her eyes narrowed, and I could sense a lecture coming on. "Mom," it was best to head her off before she could get going, "I thought a _Major_ _Emergency_ had been going on as the phone had been ringing nonstop. It was Leah, and she sounded pretty upset. . She needed to get away from La Push for a bit, so she's headed our direction."

I watched as my mother's brow furrowed. "If she's upset, she shouldn't be driving Emily. Maybe I need to go call Sue." A stern look was thrown my way, before my mother made her way into the house. Game night was officially over now that the ring leader had abandoned us. Especially since she would be calling Aunt Sue and those two never could have short conversation.

"What's wrong with Lekins?" Eric asked, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the porch. I glanced over my shoulder, looking for Luke, but he was no where to be seen. He'd probably gone off somewhere with Nick. We'd been dating for over four months, but tonight was his first night coming to game night. Mom was always pretty weary of my boyfriends, so her inviting Luke to join was a pretty big deal. I wasn't a serial dater by any means, but I was definitely not like Megan, who found her soul mate in Nick at age two. I can't tell you how many weddings we planned before I turned seven.

"I think her and Sam had a fight," I explained, opting for truth. Eric wasn't a terribly nosy child, so as long as you gave him a pretty straight forward answer, he never really pried. He was pretty content as long as he sensed you were being honest with him. He looked up at me, pretty concerned. Maybe truth hadn't been the best route. I almost always forgot that he adored Sam almost as much as he adored Seth and Nick.

"Are they getting divorced?"

Worry was etched on my brothers features, and I stopped outside of the door abruptly. How he even knew that word was beyond me, but I still had to fight a laugh from escaping. He looked so serious, and I wasn't sure how to approach the subject. "What do you know about divorce?" I asked, before allowing him to lead me inside, toward the living room. I sat down on the couch, and he crawled on to my lap, looking somber.

"I know that Benny's parents are doing that, because he said they've been fighting a lot and his daddy moved out," he said, resting his head on my shoulder. I gave him a quick squeeze, feeling for Eric's friend Benny.

"No, they are not getting a divorce. You have to be married to get that," I explained. "I'm sure it will all work out. You know that Leah can sometimes be just a little bit dramatic." This earned a big grin from Eric. According to him, Leah was a pretty big drama queen, but that was only because he had heard Seth say it. It was then that Megan came in, closely followed by Nick and Luke.

"Mom's talking to Aunt Sue. I guess Leah had calmed down enough to be allowed to drive. Not like Aunt Sue would be able to stop Leah from doing something she wanted to do," Megan said, taking a seat next to me. She reached out poking Eric in the stomach.

"That'll be my cue to leave," Luke said. He jerked his head toward the door, his way of asking that I walk him out. Transitioning Eric from my lap to Megan's, I got up. I followed him out the door and down the steps toward his car. I could see mom through the kitchen window, ear glued to the phone. She glanced out the window giving a look that demanded we keep the goodbye short, but I tried to pretend I didn't see it.

"You know, you don't have to leave," I tried. If I didn't at least make an effort, he'd probably be annoyed at me tomorrow. He and Leah didn't exactly see eye to eye on anything. Megan claimed it was a territorial thing, that they hated sharing my time, which was kind of ridiculous and completely untrue. They were just so different and had polar opposite opinions on everything.

Pulling me into a hug, I could feel him shaking his head. "Yeah, thanks but no thanks," he stated. I pulled away to look at him, and he was giving me a sour look. "I just don't understand your relationship," he complained. I rolled my eyes, not willing to go here with him again. He knew my stance on his opinion of my relationship with Leah, which was basically he shouldn't have one. There was a heavy sigh, and he placed a quick kiss on my cheek.

I watched as he got in his car and drove away, chewing on my bottom lip, my thoughts already returning to Leah. Besides the claims Seth and Eric made, she really wasn't as dramatic as most teenage girls our age. She and Sam normally got on so well, and in the past two years of them dating, they never had a major fight that reduced her to a sobbing mess. Typically, she just got really pissed and yelled a lot. I turned to go back in the house, finding that my dad was on the porch playing with Claire. He glanced up at me, a smile on his face.

"Your mother sent me out here to keep an eye on you and _that_ _boy_. She wanted me to intervene if he got too fresh," Dad gave me his signature cheeky grin. He turned his attention back toward Claire, as I took a seat next to him. "I will say it went relatively well. Your mom didn't show too much disdain when he was talking about how he wanted to go to California and be a professional surfer after he graduated. That did show some restraint on her part."

"I think it was pretty obvious to everyone how much she disliked him when she tried to get a _real_ answer out of him, only to find he was completely serious," I pressed my shoulder to my dads, and he reached over to pat my knee.

"She's a tough critic because the merchandise is just too valuable," he pinched Claire's cheek, but I could tell he was looking at me out of the corner of his eye. Saying mom was a tough critic was an understatement. We sat in a comfortable silence as I waited for Leah. I was hoping she'd be here soon. It had been a surprisingly nice spring day, but I wasn't sure the weather would hold much longer. The sky was much darker than it had been before, and the stars were slowly being covered by a blanket of rain clouds. "I'd get inside, if I were you, and finish up the dishes before your mom gets off the phone. You know how much she likes it when you do something before it's asked.

He was right. It was either do it now or be forced to do it when Leah got here. Kissing my dad on the cheek I got up and made my way toward the kitchen. I could hear mom in the laundry room. It was easy to tell she was still on the phone with Aunt Sue, and from the sound of it she was talking about Luke and she wasn't exactly singing his praises. Beyond her being a tough critic, she was normally an extremely friendly and amiable person. I would go as far to say that most people on our reservation adored her (and her double chocolate chip muffins which came with her to every rez meeting). It was just that she had seemingly high expectations of how my love life should go. I think Nick had set the bar pretty high, as it was pretty clear he'd always been enamored with Megan. On top of that, her relationship with Dad was very strong and they were both very much in love, even after 27 years of being married. She wanted me to find that same happiness, I think, but in her head I kept settling for mediocre guys. I didn't think so, obviously, but my mom was pretty stubborn once she made up her mind about something.

I began to work on what little dishes were left, as Megan and I had finished most of them before the game started. Like most people in the world, we had a dishwasher, but another one of my mom's quirks about game night was that we had to wash dishes together by hand 'like the old days.' I would try to explain it, if I could, but sometimes her way of thinking went beyond my realm of comprehension. I was just finishing up the last dish, when I heard a car pull up the driveway. Putting the dish away quickly, I threw the rag on the counter (I would hear about this later, I was sure) and made my way outside. Leah had parked by the time I was out the front door and was just getting out as I made my way across the yard.

"My life is _over_," she exclaimed, before throwing herself into my arms and bursting into tears. Definitely not typical Leah behavior, so I knew I was in for a long night.

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**Authors Note: A Sam/Emily story has been floating in my head for quite some time (not even joking that it's probably been over a year). It's nice to finally have it out. Tentatively, I am planning a series for the Imprints, and there are quite a few ideas floating around in my head. Just a fair warning, if I do get to that point, I will let you know that it will only follow the books through Eclipse before I _break_ from Breaking Dawn. Reviews would be super nice. :-)**


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